The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1887-02-10
An Awful Plunge.

BosroN, February 5,-A dispatch
from Bradfort, VT, To the Associated
Press says that the night express, which
left White River Junction, bound for
Montreal filled with passengers from
Boston and New York for the Carnival,
was wrecked at the first crossing of the
White River. A rail broke, and the
engine, one baggage car, one passenger
and one sleeping car went over the
bridge sixty feet into the river. Before
the engineer or any one could get to the
wreck, the cars had caught fire and were
burned; the bridge also was burned, and
inside of twenty minutes all were
destroyed. 1t is estimated that fifty per.
sons were killed. Henry Tuxbury, of
West Randolph, VT, well-known lee
turer, is among those killed. Conductor
Sturtevant was fatally burned. Frank
Wesson, son of D. B. Wesson, Of
Springfield, Mass, of the firm of Smith
g. Wesson the pistol manufacturers, was
also among the killed.
CONCORD, N. H., February 5.-The
train was about an hour and half late
leaving White River Junction. 1t con-
sisted of the locomotive, baggage car,
two passenger coaches and two sleeping
cars, and was running at the usual rate
of speed. When about two hundred
yards south OF the end of the Deck
Bridge, near Old Windsor Station,
broken railway was struck. The locomo-
tive, baggage car and postal car broke
away from the rest of the train, passing
over the bridge in safety. The rest Of
the train was thrown from the rails and
continued on the road bed until it came
near the end of the bridge, but there it
ran over the abutment and all of the
cars fell into White River, some so feet
below The gorge at this point is fright
full, and when the cars went down there
was terrible crash. As soon as posi-
BILE, the detached part of the train was
stopped and ran back to the scene of the
disaster. The screams of the injured
were heartrending. Assistance also came
from the people living in the vicinity,
and everything was done to rescue and
relieve the Injured. Soon after help
arrived it was discovered that fro had
started in the first passenger coach, and
soon the entire train. was ablaze, thus
adding u new horror to the already
frightful catastrophe. Those preseLt
were powerless to stop the fire and de-
voted themselves entirely TO attempting
to rescue those imprisoned in the wreck.
The rescuers met another and unexpected
obstacle in the heat, which had become
so intense that they were obliged to
relinquish their efforts to save the suffer-
ers, and were compelled to retreat to a
place of safety for themselves, and to
become unwilling and horror.stricken
| witnesses of the awful holocaust. In ad-
dition to this, and 10 add to the terrors
and suffsrings of the passengers, the
weather was intensely cold, and the res.
cuers were hindered thereby in their
work. No water could be obtained with
which to check or extinguish the flames.
The ice was several inches on the river,
aud there we're no appliances on hand
to raise it. 1t has not been, and proba-
bly, never will, be possible to tell accu.
rately how many lives have been lost.
From the best data obtainable there
were about eighty persons in the four
cars destroyed. The lowest estimate
places the probable number killed al
thirty, aud it is possible that twice chat
number may be correct. A great many
were killed outright by the tremendous
fall aud crush of the cars, but several
cases are known where people unhurt OF
slightly injured were fastened in the
wreck, and burned to death. One lady
and gentleman were rescued from the
sleeper badly bruised and almost naked
their clothing being torn from them in
hastily pulling themselves out of the
reach of the fire. The bridge caught fire
and was destroyed. The night was
freezing cold and but for the hospitality
of q farmer named Thomas Pingree, who
lived near the scene of the accident, and
who filled bis house with the sufferers
many who escaped the wreck with little
or no clothing would have frozen 10
death.